Proceedings of the International Conference on Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar
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A constructional analysis for the skeptical
Full text linkThis paper addresses the issue of phonologically null elements in HPSG by providing an
analysis of the construction exemplified by NPs such as ˋthe rich\u27, ˋthe beautiful\u27, ˋthe
unemployed\u27, which lack an overt noun. The properties of this construction are explored in
detail, and a number of approaches described: in particular approaches which posit a
phonologically empty noun, and constructional approaches. It is shown that a
constructional approach is empirically superior. This is interesting, theoretically,
because empirical differences between such approaches have proved elusive hitherto
Unique lexical entries in a subconstructional grammar
Full text linkFunction words like prepositions, adverbs, particles, and complementizers may be assigned more than one category due to the different functions they can have. In this paper I present an approach that assumes unique lexical entries for words that are assigned more than one category. I will focus on prepositions and how they may function as heads of modifying PPs, selected prepositions, or as particles
Scalarity and the Cantonese post-verbal particle can1
Full text linkThis paper provides an analysis of the Cantonese post-verbal particle can1. We argue that can1 is a resultative particle encoding the meaning of ‘a small degree’. It is only compatible with (i) verbs that entail a specific resulted state of the theme argument and (ii) verbs that encode a potential change of the theme argument (Beavers, 2011, 2013). Assuming that change of state verbs involve a property scale (Hay et al., 1999), we propose that can1 makes the property scale bounded by providing an end-point. This endpoint, however, is not precise. It consists of a range of values on the lower end of the scale
Divergence in expressing definiteness between Mandarin and Cantonese
Full text linkIn this paper, we model the dialectal variation in the expression of definiteness in Mandarin and Cantonese adopting the Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG) framework (Pollard & Sag, 1994) and Minimal Recursion Semantics (MRS) (Copestake et al., 2005)
Ellipsis of SAY, THINK, and DO in Japanese subordinate clauses: A constructional analysis
Full text linkThis paper addresses some Japanese constructions where the predicate heading a subordinate clause – specifically, a suspensive form of IU \u27say\u27, OMOU \u27think\u27 or SURU \u27do\u27 – appears to be elided. I will discuss that these elliptic constructions are subject to certain syntactic and interpretative constraints which do not apply to their non-elliptic counterparts, and develop an SBCG-analysis that aims to model these constraints without postulating a covert element in the place of the missing verb
Degrees of affectedness and verbal prefixation in Abui (Papuan)
Full text linkThis paper deals with the encoding of affectedness in Abui, a Papuan language of Indonesia. Abui is a head-marking language of the rare type where the verbs are marked for their undergoer arguments (So, O) formally split into several subtypes. This marking has been previously analyzed as a type of semantic alignment sensitive among others to affectedness. Affectedness is understood here as a scalar property delimiting the predicate (following Tenny 1987 and Beavers 2011). The paper explores the structure of the affectedness scale for Abui, comparing the functions and meaning of three types of person prefix paradigms. We show that verbs with similar meaning, encoding the same type of change (in Beavers’ terms) can differ in their entailments. We also show that there may be additional dimensions in which affectedness can be measured, such as affected agents, and that the interpretation of the degree on the affectedness scale interacts with instigator’s (source of force) status on the referential hierarchy. While human agents in some cases allow lower degrees of affectedness, the inanimate forces select the maximal degree reading. We conclude, that despite a considerable amount of fluidity of marking (Fedden et al. 2013, 2014), the shifts in degree of affectedness can be predicted as lowering of the degree stipulated for the predicate
Lacking integrity: HPSG as a morphosyntactic theory
Full text linkStandard accounts of HPSG assume a distinction between morphology and syntax. However, despite decades of research, no cross-linguistically valid definition of \u27word\u27 has emerged (Haspelmath, 2010), suggesting that no sharp distinction is justified. Under such a view, the basic units are morphemes, rather than words, but it has been argued this raises problems when analysing phenomena such as zero inflection, syncretism, stem alternations, and extended exponence. We argue that with existing HPSG machinery, a morpheme-based approach can in fact deal with such issues. To illustrate this, we consider Slovene nominal declension and Georgian verb agreement, which have both been used to argue against constructive morpheme-based approaches. We overcome these concerns through use of a type hierarchy, and give a morpheme-based analysis which is simpler than the alternatives. Furthermore, we can recast notions from Word-and-Paradigm morphology, such as \u27rule of referral\u27 and \u27stem space\u27, in our framework. We conclude that using HPSG as a unified morphosyntactic theory is not only feasible, but also yields fruitful insights
Between complex predicates and regular phrases: German collocational clusters
Full text linkI argue for a new type of non-standard constituent in German; a modifier-collocational-cluster. This type of cluster combines (i) a modifier and (ii) a
PP from a light-verb construction (or a Funktionsverbgefüge (FVG) as they are known in German) or a bare noun. Such strings are found in German in initial
(prefield) position in certain cases of apparent multiple fronting. We are dealing with a syntax-semantics mismatch here since the modifier does not semantically modify the element with which it can first syntactically combine. I show that the modifier is a collocate of both its co-prefield element but also of the verb. I propose a schema which lexically licenses the building of such clusters and I show how we can encode information about what I refer to as collocational selection
in the lexical entries of the type of lexemes involved in these multi-word strings. The analysis can be seen as lexical but does not require lexical storage
of phrasal elements
Focus feature percolation: Evidence from Tundra Nenets and Tundra Yukaghir
Full text linkTwo Siberian languages, Tundra Nenets and Tundra Yukaghir, do not
obey strong island constraints in questioning: any sub-constituent of a
relative or adverbial clause can be questioned. We argue that this has to
do with how focusing works in these languages. The focused sub-constituent
remains in situ, but there is abundant morphosyntactic evidence that the
focus feature is passed up to the head of the clause. The result is the
formation of a complex focus structure in which both the head and non head
daughter are overtly marked as focus, and they are interpreted as a
pairwise list such that the focus background is applicable to this list,
but not to other alternative lists
Two types of serial verb constructions in Korean: Subject-sharing and index-sharing
Full text linkIn this paper I present an account for the lexical passive Serial Verb Constructions (SVCs) in Korean. Regarding the issue of how the arguments of an SVC are realized, I propose two hypotheses: i) Korean SVCs are broadly classified into two types, subject-sharing SVCs where the subject is structure-shared by the verbs and index-sharing SVCs where only indices of semantic arguments are structure-shared by the verbs, and ii) a semantic argument sharing is a general requirement of SVCs in Korean. I also argue that an argument composition analysis can accommodate such the new data as the lexical passive SVCs in a simple manner compared to other alternative derivational analyses